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Best Cheap Speakers - New or Old

Sure if money is no object there are many speakers that we all "drool for". But having said that, there something to be said for a good "cheap" (less than $500 a pair MSRP) speakers. Granted they're not going to be in anybody's main system (probably they'll be found in somebody's bedroom, office, garage system, usually with some older vintage components driving them). But nevertheless, they deliver decent performance at a resonable price and they're honest in what they do. Not "state of the art" by a large margin, but still good "musical" friends. My choice is an old pair of Boston Acoustics A-60s, that I bought back in the late '80s for probably $200 a pair. Granted there are tons of better speakers out there, but for what they do, and age they are, and the money I paid, they still deliver some pretty damn good sound and performance. Anyway, curious on what others may think and what "cheap" speakers have held a "soft spot" in their "sonic" hearts?
cleaneduphippy
mikirob
955 posts
 
I third the Sound Dynamics 300ti. Regret selling them. I bought them for the close-out price of around $250 circa 1995-1996, if memory is correct. They sounded really good across the board and the bass went cleanly down to approximately 34hz. Probably cost about $2,500 today with a nice wood veneer and couple of tweaks, perhaps more.
mikirob
955 posts
 
Also Vandy 1c, or 2ce.
aritomo's avatar
aritomo
8 posts
 
Any ELAC; Any Q acoustics
- Own ELAC Uni-Fi UB5 - for about $500 these are super speakers (although need a bit of amp to run them well)

- Own Q3050 for use by my wife in her office - they also sound super

And yes, we have a rather good (Revel Ultima Salon 2) running and the above do well despite the comparision.  Also, yes I do understand the Revel's are not the ultimate in staging and macrodynamics, but they are good for purpose and room we have.
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